Narrative
'Darrow' is a new strawberry variety released by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station in January 1974 from the cooperative strawberry breeding program. 'Darrow', tested as MdUS 3773, originated from a cross between MdUS 2713, a very early-ripening selection, and MdUS 2787, a midseason selection made in 1963 by the senior author. Some historic parentage is involved in the early breeding of 'Darrow' dating to 1938 when Scotland BK46 from Mr. Robert Reid of Ayr, Scotland, was first crossed with 'Fairfax' (Fig. 1). The seedlings from which 'Darrow' was selected were grown at Salisbury, Maryland, in 1964 and the selection was made during fruiting in the spring of 1965 by D. H. Scott, I. C. Haut, and A. D. Draper.'Darrow' ripens 1 to 2 days later than 'Earlidawn' and 'Midland'. Its berries are medium-large and have firm, glossy surfaces of deep red color (Fig. 2). The flesh is very firm and has a uniform red color that is satisfactory for frozen pack. The flavor is good. Primary berries may be rough at times, but secondary and later berries have a symmetrical conic shape. The fruit has been rough and unattractive in Arkansas and North Carolina.Plants of 'Darrow' are productive in Maryland, at New Brunswick, New Jersey, and at Columbia, Missouri. They have not been so productive at Wooster, Ohio, Sodus, Michigan, and Lafayette, Indiana. At two locations in Maryland 'Darrow' has outyielded 'Surecrop' in six of the seven compari-sons. In 1973, at Beltsville, 'Darrow' and 'Raritan' were equal in yield (Table 1). 'Raritan' is consistently a top-yielding variety at Beltsville. The plants are vigorous, but they do not produce as many runner plants as 'Guardian', 'Sunrise', 'Surecrop', and other vigorous varieties. The plants are resistant to at least 5 races of the red stele fungus, Phytophthora fra-gariae Hickman. They are partially resistant to verticillium wilt, with a disease index of 38 compared with 94 for 'Dixieland' (very susceptible) and 12 for 'Guardian' (very resistant). 'Darrow' leaves are moderately re-sistant to leaf scorch, powdery mil-dew, and leaf spot. 'Darrow' is the earliest ripening of the red stele re-sistant varieties.The variety is named for Dr. George M. Darrow, renowned former head of small fruit investigations of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, who has devoted much of his life to improve-ment of the strawberry.
Donald H. Scott, I. C. Haut and A. D. Draper cultivar cross made in 1963, seedlings grown in 1964, selected in 1965, introduced in 1974
WHY NAMED= early ripening, disease resistant plant
NAMED FOR= Dr. George M. Darrow, Head, USDA small fruits research